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Index
Page numbers listed correspond to the print edition of this book. You can use your device’s search function to locate particular terms in the text.
activities of daily living (ADLs), 177
acupuncture, 37
Adam and Eve, 29–30, 33–34
age structure of human society, 113–15
aging:
accelerated, 138
accelerators of, 230
across species, 109–10
diseases of, 61–64, 67–68, 77, 111, 160–62, 171, 173–77
evolutionary theories of, see evolutionary theories of aging
food and, 230–31
free radical theory of, see free radical theory of aging
growth hormones and, 201–2
measuring time, 215–17
as a personal failure, 232
population, 113–15
as a psychological phenomenon, 209
radiation and, 138–42
as a rare phenomenon, 109
signs of, 200–201
successful, 177–79
“aging denial,” 211
“Aging of the Human Species, The,” 115
AIDS, 131, 139
air conditioning, 73
Albom, Mitch, 237
alchemy, 35
of prolongevity, 38–40
alcohol consumption, 207–8
Alexander the Great, 48–49
Allard, Dr. Michel, 207
alleles, 59–61, 153
changing tides of death and, 111–13
Allen, woody, 50, 80
alternative medicine, 145–47
Alzheimer’s disease, 62, 63, 96, 132, 158
American Dietetic Association (ADA), 230
amplifying existing longevity, 153–55
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), 61, 156
anemia, 130
animals, 209
aging of, 109–10
laboratory, 203–4
antagonistic pleiotropy, 62–63
Anti-Aging Plan: Strategies and Recipes for Extending Your Healthy Years, The (walford), 193
antiaging products, 195–96
see also longevity for sale
antibiotics, 224
resistance to, 126–27, 224
Antediluvian legends, 43, 44–45, 209
today’s, 188–91
antioxidants, 13, 26, 137–49, 162
alternative medicine, 145–47
cancer treatment and, 139–41
conclusions, 147–49
final frontier, 142–45
hormones and, 204
nuclear war and, 139
radiation and aging, 138–42
apoptosis, 161
appendix, 128
Aristotle, 31, 200
arthritis, 96, 174
artificial fertilization, 163
art of maintaining health, 32
Asvins, 48
atherosclerosis, 132, 228–29
atomic bomb, 137–38
atrophy, 224–25
Augustine, St., 34
Austad, Steven, 206
Avicenna, 32, 200
AZT, 139
babies:
death of, 71, 72, 85–86
designer, 164
in vitro fertilization and, 163
baby boom, 114, 232
Babylonian mythology, 28–29
Bacon, Roger, 40–42, 68, 190, 195, 200
bacteria, 53, 54
resistant to antibiotics, 126–27, 224
balloon angioplasty, 122
“basic elements,” 31
Bennett, Neil, 206
Besant, Annie, 7, 25
Bible, the, 32–34, 238
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 214–15
Garden of Eden, 29–30, 48
God, 33–34
immortality and, 168
long-lived patriarchs, 32–33, 44
Midrash interpretation of, 213–15
biological clocks, 68–70, 75
modern diseases and, 76–77
biological constraints, 98–99
biological flexibility, 54–55
biological limits, living beyond, 133–35
biological loopholes, 221–22
bone mass, 226–27
cardiovascular system, 228–29
conclusions, 236–37
diet, 229–31
immune system, 222–24
muscles, 224–25
recipe for health and longevity, 234–36
relaxing lifestyles, 231–34
blastula, 131, 132
blood bank of the future, 130–31
body size, 56–57
body temperature, 125–26
bone marrow transplant, 130, 131
bone mass, 143, 226–27
Bordet, Jules, 222
breathing, 210
antiaging, 41
Taoist, 36–37
broken hips, 226–27
Bronze, Age of, 44
Brown-Séquard, Charles Edouard, 25
Burbank, Luther, 74
Burns, George, 168
bypass surgery, 122
calcium, 226
Calment, Madame Jeanne, 207
caloric restriction, 36–37, 191–93, 204
cancer, 77, 87, 127, 161, 172
diet and, 189
immune system and, 223
protection from radiation therapy for, 139–41
treatment for, 130–31
cardiovascular disease, 161, 172, 189
cardiovascular system, 228–29
Carnes, Mark, 119–21
carpe diem, 237
Cavett, Dick, 211
cell cycle, 140
cells:
free radicals of, 196–99
of newborns, 208–9
suicide of, 161
central heating, 73
childbirth, death during, 71, 72
children, death of, 71–72, 111, 112
entropy in the life table and, 85–86
in the nineteenth century, 72
Stoicism and, 30
chiropractors, 127
cholesterol, 229, 233
cinnabar, 39
city life in the nineteenth century, 72–73
climate extremes, 73
Cocoon, 46
Cocoon: The Return, 46
Columbus, Christopher, 46
Coming Plague, The, 126
“compression of morbidity hypothesis,” 174–77
conception:
aging beginning at, 32
test tube, 154
conflicting messages, 12–14
contingencies, 165
Cornaro, Luigi, 42–43, 68, 174, 195, 199, 200, 208
coronary artery disease, 228–29, 233
coronary bypass surgery, 120
Creutzfeld-Jakob disease, 151
Cyavanna, 47–48
cystic fibrosis (CF), 131, 152, 157, 159
Darwin, Charles, 59, 61, 129
Dead Poets Society, 236–37
death, 56
age at, 59–60
changing tides of, 111–13
decline in rates of, 133–35
fatalism and, 27–30
biology and, 31–32
incomprehensibility of, 26
limits to powers of reproduction and, 58
see also early views of death and immortality
death rates:
entropy in the life table and, 85–88
extrapolation model and, 97–98
medical technology and, 92
Debakey, Dr. Michael, 120
dementia, 96, 174
demigods, 44–45, 48
design flaws and oddities, 128–29
developed nations, 86, 116
medical miracles in, 123, 133
developing nations, 116
DHEA, 201, 203–4
diabetes, 132, 152
dialysis, 179–80
dietary practices, 236
as biological loophole, 229–31
bone loss and, 227
longevity and, 207–8
one more day of health and, 220–21
paleolithic, 188–91
of prolongevists, 43
of Taoists, 36–37, 39, 191
differentiation, 130
digestive system, 229–30
diseases:
acquired genetic, 159–62
of aging, 61–64, 67–68, 77, 111, 160–62, 171, 173–77
cord blood to treat, 130–31
infectious, see infectious diseases
inherited, 107
modern, 76–78
single-gene, 156–59
single lethal gene and, 112–13
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), 51–52, 58, 200
cell cycle and, 140
free radicals and, 196–99
protection of, 140–42, 155–56
vitamin C and, 13
Down’s syndrome, 159
Duchenne muscular dystrophy, 157
early onset diabetes, 112–13
early views of death and immortality, 25–49
biology of fatalism, 31–32
fatalists, 27–30
prolongevity, see prolongevity
religious legacy, 32–34
Eaton, S. Boyd, 188–89
“effortless action,” 36
elixir vitae, 137
see also antioxidants
el Khidr, 48
embryonic germ cells, 131–32
“embryonic respiration,” 37
embryonic stem cells, 131–33
end-stage renal disease (ESRD), 179–80
entitlement programs, 179–81
entropy in the life table, 85–88, 93
extrapolation model and, 97–98
environmental forces, 57–58, 63
biological clocks and, 70
genetic legacy and, 74
nineteenth century, 72–73
Epicurus, 30
estrogen, 153, 201
ethics, 132–33, 159, 164, 183
“evil beings,” 36
evolution, 190
aging and, see evolutionary theories of aging
changing, 163
death genes and, 76
frequency of alleles and, 112
overengineering and, 76–77
selective breeding and, 107–8
evolutionary theories of aging, 56–64
age at death and, 59–60
environmental forces and, 57–58, 63
genes and, 59–64
limits to cellular reproduction and, 58
reproduction and, 59–64
exercise, 205, 236
benefits of, 225
bone loss and, 227
cholesterol and, 229
one more day of health and, 220–21
Taoist, 37
“expansion of mortality hypothesis,” 175–77
extended survival, implications of, 67–68
extinction, 165
extrapolation model, 96–99, 203–4
fat, 188, 189
fatalism, 27–30
early biology of, 31–32
religious legacy, 32–34
fear of tomorrow, 217
fertilized eggs, 53, 54, 131, 162
biological clocks and, 69–70
genetic intervention and, 163
sexual maturity and, 75
fetus, 126, 161
fever, 125–26
Fiatarone, Dr. Marie, 205
fibrinogen, 158
First Longevity Revolution, 110–18
changes caused by, 111–13
conclusions, 117–18
consequences of, 110
current status of, 115–17
population aging, 113–15
reasons for, 110
Fixx, Jim, 210
Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 146–47
Fountain legends, 41, 44, 47–49
antiaging products, 195–96
free radicals, see free radical theory of aging
hormones, 200–205
120 year lifespan, 199–200
themes of, 194
today’s, 194–205
Framingham study, 94
free radical theory of aging, 160, 196–99
acquired genetic diseases and, 160–62
DNA and, 196–99
“protector genes” and, 155–56
radiation and, 138
WR-2721 and, 140
Fries, Dr. James, 174–75
From Alchemy to Chemistry (Read), 38
Fruit flies, 106–8, 152, 153, 155–56, 181
“fullness of pleasure,” 30
Galen, 31–32, 200
gambler’s odds, 99–103, 203
Garson, Lea, 206
Gearhart, Dr. John, 132
gene pool, 111–13, 153, 165
genes:
aging and, 59–64, 196–99
as basic units of evolution, 59
changing the recipe for life, 162–64
death, 69
as by-product of evolutionary neglect, 76
race cars and, 64–67
extreme longevity and, 233
frequency of harmful, 111, 159
immortal, 52–56
as organic time travelers, 51–52
performing more than one function, 62–63
protector, 155–56
repair of damaged, 140–42, 161, 196–99
single-gene diseases, 156–59
single lethal, 112–13
genetic alteration to achieve longevity, 62–63, 153–55
genetic diseases:
acquired, 159–62
see also specific diseases
“genetic dustbin,” 60, 61
genetic engineering, 150–67
acquired genetic diseases, 159–62
amplifying existing longevity, 153–55
augmenting “protector genes,” 155–56
case study of, 150–52
changing the recipe for life, 162–64
conclusions, 165–67
potential of, 182
risks of, 182–83
single-gene diseases, 156–59
tinkering with mother nature, 152
wisdom of nature, 164–65
genetic legacy, 74–75
genetic suicide, 55–56
Georgians, Soviet, 47, 205–6
germ cells, 51
manipulation of, 163–64
Gilgamesh, 28–29
Glenn, John, 143, 144, 178
God, 33–34
gold:
ingesting, 39
purer form of, 42
Gold, Age of, 44
Golden Fleece Award, 106
Goldsmid, Edmund, 137
Gompertz, Benjamin, 88–91, 124
Gould, Stephen Jay, 129, 165
Grdina, David, 139–41
Greek mythology, 28, 45–46
growth hormone (GH), 151–52, 194, 205, 211
injections of, 201–2
Gruenberg, Ernest, 175
Gruman, Gerald, 37
Guinness Book of World Records, 206
Gulliver’s Travels (Swift), 169–71, 173
Harmon, Denham, 155
Hayflick, Leonard, 58, 206
health, one more day of, 220–21
health benefits, adding, 103–4, 204
health risks, 103
healthy expectancy, 176
heart disease, 77, 85, 87, 97, 210, 211
combining substances to combat, 103–4
medical miracles and, 122
Vitamin E and, 101–2
hemophilia, 112–13
herbal supplements, 146
heritable diseases, 159–62
Heroic Age, 44–45
Herrick, Robert, 213, 236
Hesiod, 44–45
Hilton, James, 46
Hindu mythology, 47–48
Hippocrates, 200, 209
Hippocratic physicians, 31
Hodgkin’s disease, 131
hormones, 26, 200–205
hospitals, 73
hot and moist to cold and dry, aging process as, 31, 32
Hot Zone, The, 126
How and Why We Age (Hayflick), 206
hsien, 35, 36, 39, 195
hucksters, 146, 186–87, 212, 232, 237
human bodies, 51–52
design flaws and oddities and, 128–29
evolutionary medicine and, 125–27
immortal genes and, 52–56
Human Genome Project, 52, 157, 160, 230
human life at its beginning, 70–72, 131–33
hunter-gatherers, 188–91
Huntington’s chorea, 61, 157, 159
Hunza people, 206
Hyperborean legends, 43–44, 45–47
today’s, 205–8
hypertension, 128
idealized world, 27–28
immortality, 168–69
curse of, 170
early views of, see early views of death and immortality
immortals of Lap[image: Image]ta, 169–71
immune systems, 199
as biological loophole, 222–24
disorders of, 130
immature, 53
immunizations, 223
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, 46
Indian folklore, 209–10
infectious diseases, 53, 59, 77, 87
among children, 72, 85–86, 111, 112, 116
immunization against, 223
in the nineteenth century, 72, 73
proactive measures against, 171–73
ingesting small quantities of substances, 39, 41
innate moisture, 40, 41
innovations, 73, 110, 111
insurance annuities, 88
Internet, 194
interpretation of science, 202
in vitro fertilization (IVF), 163
Iron, Age of, 45
Jabir, 40
Jeanne Calment: From Van Gogh’s Time to Ours (Robine, Lébre, and Allard), 207
Jesus Christ, 34
Kahn, Robert, 177, 178, 233
Kirkwood, Thomas, 63–64
Kitcher, Philip, 157, 208–9
Ko Hung, 35, 38–39
Koval, Rabbi Yisrael, 214–15
laboratory animals, 203–4
lactose intolerance, 157–58
Lap[image: Image]ta, immortals of, 169–71
law of mortality, 88–93
assertion of, 88–89
breaking of, 92–93
causes of death and, 90
importance of, 92
manufactured time and, 124
resurrected search for, 90–92
Lébre, Dr. Victor, 207
leukemia, 113, 130
life expectancy, 71–72, 74, 80–105
adding health benefits, 103–4
biological limits of, 133–35, 174–75
conclusions, 104–5
estimating, 80–84
extrapolation model, 96–99
First Longevity Revolution and, 115–17
gambler’s odds, 99–103
law of mortality, 88–93
limits to, 217–20
Methuselah Trap, 85–88
risk factor model, 93–96
table of, 81–83, 239–43
twentieth century, 85–87
life extension industry, 13
“life force,” 39
lifespan:
in days, 216–19
120 year, 199–200
stages of, 60–61
lifestyle, 77
Bacon and, 40–41
Cornaro and, 42–43
cumulative negative effects of, 41
healthiest, 219–20
Hesiod and, 45
relaxing, 231–34
risk factor model and, 94, 95
Taoist, 36
life table, 81–83, 238–42
entropy in the, see entropy in the life table
Lives to Come, The (Kitcher), 157, 208–9
longevity, claims of, 47, 205–6
verified, 206–8
longevity experiments, 106–18
amplifying existing longevity, 153–55
with fruit flies, 106–8, 152, 153, 155–56, 181
human, see First Longevity Revolution
with pets, 109
longevity for sale, 186–212
Antediluvian legends, 188–91
antiaging products, 195–96
caloric restriction, 191–93
conclusions, 211–12
Fountain legends, 194–205
free radicals, see free radical theory of aging
hormones, 200–205
how long do prolongevists live?, 210–11
hucksters and, 186–87
Hyperborean legends, 205–8
less is more, 191–93
120 year lifespan, 193, 199–200
paleolithic diet, 188–91
scientific information and, 187–88
spiritual approach, 208–10
long life, fleeting youth, 168–85
circumventing the rules of nature, 181–83
conclusions, 183–85
entitlement programs and, 179–81
health trends, 174–77
hurdling one disease at a time, 171–73
immortality and, 168–69
immortals of Lap[image: Image]ta, 169–71
successful aging, 177–79
looking younger, 202–3
Lost Horizon (Hilton), 46
Lou Gehrig’s disease, 61, 156
Lucretius, 30, 217
lymphoma, 130
MacArthur Foundation, 177
McNeill, William, 71
magical substances, 186–87
malnutrition, 73, 116, 147, 223
manufactured time, 92, 119–36
blood bank of the future, 130–31
case histories of, 119–23
conclusions, 135–36
cultivating the primordial cells of life, 131–33
dawn of evolutionary medicine, 125–27
defined, 123–24
design flaws and oddities, 128–29
law of mortality and, 124
living beyond the biological limits, 133–35
nonfatal chronic conditions and, 95–96
Marcus Aurelius, 30
mass media, 187, 194, 212, 237
Medawar, Sir Peter, 59–61, 63
Medicare, 115
dialysis and, 180
medicine:
alternative, 145–47
early practitioners of, 147–48
evolutionary, 125–27
design flaws and oddities, 128–29
hurdling one disease at a time, 171–73
miracles of, 119–23, 133–35
dialysis machines, 179–80
see also manufactured time
melatonin, 194, 201
Mendel, Gregor, 160
Mendelian diseases, 159–62
meningitis, 126
menopause, 153–54
mercuric oxide, 39
mercuric sulfide, 39
mercury, 39
metabolic rate, 57
metabolic reactions, 196, 197
Methuselah Trap, 85–88
mice, 75
microorganisms, 111
mind-over-body philosophy, 34
minerals, 194, 195–96
mitochondria, 142, 196, 197
Morgan, Elaine, 129
morning sickness, 126
mortality, law of, see law of mortality
mountain mines as antiaging therapy, 26
multiple sclerosis, 130
muscles, 224–25
weightlessness and, 143
mutations, 197, 199, 200, 209, 223
NASA, 142–44
National Academy of Sciences, 217–18
natural healing, 146
nature:
circumventing the rules of, 181–83
tinkering with, 152
wisdom of, 164–65
Nesse, Dr. Randy, 125, 126
neuroblastoma, 130
neurofibromatosis, 157
New England Journal of Medicine, 201
nineteenth century, life in, 72–73
nonfatal chronic conditions, 77, 95–96, 174
Norris, Kathleen, 119
nuclear technologies, 138
nutrition recommendations, 230
obsession with health, 232
occupational hazards, 73
Olshansky, Jay, 121
omnivores, 229–30
one more day:
of health, 220–21
of life, 217–20
120-Year Diet, The (Walford), 193
120 year lifespan, 193, 199–200
organic foods, 210–11
osteoarthritis, 96
osteoporosis, 77, 96, 131, 174, 227
Outbreak, 126
paleolithic diet, 188–91
Panda’s Thumb, The (Gould), 129
Pandora, 28
Paradise, 45–47
parasitic diseases, 59, 87, 111, 112
proactive measures against, 171–73
Parkinson’s disease, 132, 174
Pauling, Linus, 13, 99, 210
Pearl, Raymond, 89–90
“period life expectancy,” 81, 84
Perls, Dr. Tom, 153
personal recipe for health and longevity, 234–36
Peterson, Dr., 120
pets, 109
pharmaceuticals, 147–48
see also antioxidants
phenylketonuria (PKU), 112–13, 157
Philosopher’s Stone, 41–42
physical fitness, 225
pigs, transgenic, 158
pilonidal cyst, 121
pituitary gland, 151
Plagues and Peoples (McNeill), 71
pleiotropy, 62–63
Ponce de Léon, 47
Pool of Youth, 48
population aging, 113–15
Prana, 209–10
prenenolone, 201
primitive societies, 188–91
primitivism, 36
primordial cells of life, 131–33
progesterone, 153, 201
programmed cell death, 161
prolongevity, 35–49
alchemy of, 38–40
branches of, 43–49
Antediluvian legends, 43, 44–45
Fountain legends, 44, 47–49
Hyperborean legends, 43–44, 45–47
debunking of, 78
defined, 35
lifespan of believers in, 210–11
magical substances and, 186–87
see also longevity for sale
mass media and, 187
predictions made by advocates of, 134
prominent advocates of, 40–43
Taoism and, 35–37
Prometheus, 28
“protector genes,” 155–56
protein(s), 151, 158, 189
Proxmire, William, 106
puberty, 53–54, 60
death rates after, 88, 91
public health experiment, 106–18
changing the tides of death, 111–13
conclusions, 117–18
current status of the first longevity revolution, 115–17
fruit fly longevity and, 106–8
longevity experiment on people, 108–10
population aging, 113–15
puncture wounds, 128
quietism, 36
radiation, 138
aging and, 138–42
atomic bomb and, 137–38
space travel and, 144
radiation therapy, 130
radio-protectors, 138, 139, 144
Read, Dr. John, 38
“regions” of lifespan of mankind, 31
rejuvenation clinics, 26
relaxing lifestyles, 231–34
reproduction, 53–54, 58
aging and, 59–64
hostile environment and, 74–75
race to, 67
see also sex and death
reproductive period, 91
“residual life expectancy,” 82
retinoblastoma, 157
risk factor model, 93–96
assumptions of, 94–95
basis of, 93
healthy lifestyle and, 94, 95
nonfatal chronic conditions and, 95–96
“perfect” study group, 94
Robine, Jean-Marie, 176, 207
Rodale, Jerome, 210–11
Rose, Michael, 106–8, 152, 153, 181
Rowe, Dr. John, 177, 178, 233
Rudman, Dr. Daniel, 201–2, 211
sanitation, public, 73, 110, 133, 172
Scars of Evolution, The (Morgan), 129
Schulz, Charles, 11
Schwartz, Morrie, 237
Scientific American, 115
Second Longevity Revolution, 118
selective breeding, 107–8
sensory systems deterioration, 77, 96, 174
sex and death, 50–79
ancient perils to modern diseases, 76–78
Bible and, 34
biological clocks, 68–70
conclusions, 78–79
death genes and race cars, 64–67
evolution theories of aging, 56–64
genes as organic time travelers, 51–52
human life at its beginnings, 70–72
immortal genes, mortal bodies, 52–56
implications of a genetic legacy, 74–75
implications of extended survival, 67–68
life in the nineteenth century, 72–73
sex hormones, 153
sexual maturity, 75
Shapiro, Rabbi Avie, 214–15
sickle cell anemia, 107, 159
Silver, Age of, 44
single-gene diseases, 156–59
smoking, 204, 207–8
Snowdon, David, 153
social engineering, 153–55
Social Security system, 114–15, 180–81
Society of Anti-Aging Medicine, 104
somatic cells, 51, 182
replication of, 58
space travel, 142–45
spirituality, 208–10
state of mind, 208–10
statistics, deceptive, 99–103
Steinach, Eugen, 26
stem cells, 130, 131
embryonic, 131–33
Stoicism, 30
stroke, 77, 85, 97, 128
successful aging, 177–79
Successful Aging (Rowe and Kahn), 178, 233
superoxide dismutase (SOD), 156
survival probabilities, 81
Swedish massage, 37
Swift, Jonathan, 169–71, 173
tabloid science, 237
Tai Chi Chuan, 37
Taoism, 35–37, 68, 191, 200
Tay-Sachs disease, 107, 157, 159
telomerase, 187
telomere, 58
testosterone, 194, 201
Thomas Aquinas, St., 43
Thomson, Dr. James A., 132
Three Worms, 36
time, measuring, 215–17
tissue rejection, 132–33
tortoises and turtles, 75
transformations, Taoism and, 35, 38–39
transgenic animals, 158
transmutation, 41–42
tuberculosis, 126
Tuesdays with Morrie (Albom), 237
Twain, Mark, 186
twenty-first century, 213–37
biological loopholes, see biological loopholes
conclusions, 236–37
measuring time, 215–17
Midrash interpretation of the Bible and, 213–15
one more day of health, 220–21
one more day of life, 217–20
recipe for health and longevity, 234–36
twins, 200
2 percent assumption, 97–98
umbilical cord, 130–31
unequal distribution of health benefits, 100–103, 104
Utopian worlds, 27–28
Uttarakurus, 46
Uzumi, Mr., 206
Valentine, Alan, 150
vasectomy, 26
Verbrugge, Lois, 176
Vilcabamba, Ecuador, 206
viruses, 53
modified, 161, 163, 182
“vital principle,” 41, 42–43, 200, 209
“vital” substances, 25, 200
vitamins, 146–47
C, 13, 99, 139, 194, 210
E, 101–2, 103, 139, 194
Fountain legends and, 194–96
genetic damage and, 198–99
see also antioxidants
Walford, Dr. Roy, 193
walking upright, 128–29
Water of Life, 48
water supplies, 73
Weil, Dr. Andrew, 145–46
Weindruch, Richard, 191–92
Weismann, August, 56–59
Why We Age (Austad), 206
Why We Get Sick (Nesse and Williams), 125, 126
Williams, George, 61–63, 125, 126
Williams, Robin, 236–37
wisdom of nature, 164–65
women:
age at menopause, 153–54
heart disease and, 101–2
responsibility for aging and death, in mythology, 28
Wonderful Life (Gould), 165
WR-2721, 139–42
yogurt, 205
zero gravity, 143
Zeus, 28, 44, 45
[image: image]
CHAPTER 5
[image: Image]
Manufactured Time
Live each day as if it were your last—
someday you’ll be right.
KATHLEEN NORRIS
IN 1970, A FIFTY-YEAR-OLD MAN by the name of Mark from Duncan, Oklahoma, was taking his usual morning stroll to work. Every day after arriving at his office building, Mark would run up the three flights of stairs to his office rather than use the elevator. Although many years had passed, Mark still thought of himself as an air force sergeant in the South Pacific during World War II. His exercise ritual was a daily affirmation that he had not lost the vigor of his youth. In his five decades of life, Mark had never visited a doctor or hospital for any significant health problem. His routine on this early December morning was no different than it had always been. However, on this day Mark noticed a pain in his chest after his run up the stairs—a pain that he did not recognize. Not knowing what to make of it, he walked back down the stairs and ran up the three flights again. This time, the pain took his breath away.
Duncan is a small town, and Mark’s family physician, a personal friend, diagnosed the problem easily and quickly. Mark was told that he needed to see a heart specialist, and if he did not go immediately, he probably would not live to see the new year. Mark was a stubborn man, a Christian man, and a man intensely devoted to his family. His children were coming home from college for what Mark considered the most important day of the year: Christmas. Nothing was going to ruin the family celebration—not his health, not his doctor, and especially not a hospital. The heart specialists were just going to have to wait.
The day after Christmas, Mark was placed in a wheelchair and put on an airplane bound for Houston, Texas, where he met with the famous surgical team of Debakey and Peterson—the pioneers of coronary bypass surgery. A few days later, Dr. Peterson opened up Mark’s chest and grafted one new artery onto his heart, making him the one hundred eighty-first coronary bypass patient in the world. Within a few days, Mark was forced to get up and walk around and then return to his room, where he chatted with his roommate who was recovering from the same surgery—Andy from the famous radio show Amos ’n’ Andy. In a remarkably short time, Mark was returned to his family in excellent health.
Mark had always been a physical man and disciplined almost to a fault. He quickly dropped his weight from 230 to 175 pounds, watched his diet and alcohol consumption, swam regularly, and jogged along the cattle pastures near his home almost every day. Mark lived another twenty-eight years, sharing many a joyful Christmas with his family. Even near the end of his life while fighting a losing battle with Alzheimer’s disease, Mark was able to care for his beloved wife, who was losing her own personal battle with emphysema. My dad, Mark Carnes, was a remarkable man, and his friends and family are thankful for the miracle of medical technology that was able to manufacture a healthy quarter century of life that we were privileged to share with him.
In the summer of 1974, a young man twenty years of age was nearing the end of a two-week road trip through the western United States and Canada. On the day before arriving home, he felt something funny on the car seat and reached down to see if he was sitting on a marble or some change that might have fallen out of his pocket. Nothing was there. That evening, he discovered a large, tender lump at the base of his spine that was growing more painful by the minute. He went to the doctor the moment he arrived home.
His doctor told him that he was born with a congenital malformation that resulted in a hole at the base of his spine, a condition referred to as a pilonidal cyst. The hole was so small that his mother had never detected it during infancy. Sometime after puberty, hair had grown into the hole, and eventually an infection developed. Left untreated, the infection could have worked its way into the intestines or abdominal cavity and killed the young man.
A few days later, a surgeon removed the cyst. Although a routine procedure today, this kind of surgery was not available in the past, often making congenital problems like this a lethal condition. Recovery from this surgery was difficult, but by six months the young Jay Olshansky had recuperated well enough to bound up a flight of stairs with ease. Today, I still run upstairs and appreciate now more than ever how medical technology has manufactured survival time for millions of people like me who would have died at a much younger age in the absence of medical intervention.
At age thirty-three, Neil, a professor at Yale University, was enjoying the prime of his personal and professional life. One night he was dancing with his wife at a wedding when he felt a pain in his chest. The pain subsided when he sat down but returned a few days later during a game of squash. After an EKG, Neil was given a clean bill of health. “It’s psychological,” he was told. A stress test was scheduled in two weeks. A week later, while driving home with his wife, Grace, Neil experienced chest pains that were even more severe than before, accompanied by a cold sweat and shortness of breath. This time he knew what was happening: he was having a heart attack and he needed to get to a hospital fast. Grace could not drive a stick shift well, so Neil drove himself to a hospital located twenty minutes away—running red lights and driving on sidewalks and over curbs to pass cars along the way. Upon arriving at the emergency room, Neil said in his usual polite tone, “Excuse me, I’m having a heart attack.” Ninety seconds later, his heart stopped. It took another minute before a defibrillator could successfully shock the heart back to life.
Seven days later, a tiny balloon was placed into one of Neil’s clogged coronary arteries and inflated. This procedure, known as balloon angioplasty, compresses the plaque against the wall of the artery and improves blood flow. In the years that followed, Neil changed his diet, began to exercise, and started a family. At the age of forty, he required triple bypass surgery. Once again, medical technology saved his life. Neil is now forty-six years old. His career is flourishing and he is enjoying a healthy life, along with Grace and their two children.
The physicians and other health-care workers who provide medical care for people with disease, and the biomedical researchers who study diseases in order to develop more effective identification, treatment, and prevention, are becoming medical miraclemakers. As these three examples illustrate, dramatic progress has been made toward understanding and treating diseases and disorders that have historically been life-threatening. The importance and magnitude of this progress and its impact on life expectancy should not be underestimated. In developed countries where most people die beyond the age of sixty-five, medical miraclemakers are the primary reason why death rates are declining, life expectancy is rising, and survival rates for most lethal diseases are improving so dramatically. It is likely that most of you have had, or will have, your life saved at least once by the new technologies of medical science.
MANUFACTURING SURVIVAL TIME
The prolongation of life has always been a goal of biomedical science. The First Longevity Revolution gave more people a chance to achieve their longevity potential by reducing threats to health and longevity that originate from outside the body. The medical miraclemakers of today have begun treating the symptoms of age-related diseases that originate within the body, and they have begun the challenging task of seeking cures for the diseases that are a genetic legacy from our ancestors. The technologies of modern medicine (surgery, dialysis machines, respiratory aids, to name a few) already permit many people to survive beyond their inherent longevity potential.
The three men in the stories that opened this chapter lived longer because medical technology was able to manufacture survival time for them. We created the term manufactured time to describe the additional days lived as the result of a successful medical intervention for a life-threatening condition. The term implies that death would have occurred without the intervention. Of course, the actual amount of survival time that is manufactured cannot be measured with precision because it is not possible to know exactly how long an individual might have lived in the absence of medical intervention. Despite this problem, manufactured time is a useful concept because it emphasizes the point that many people are already living beyond the longevity potential with which they were born.
Recall that Benjamin Gompertz, the British actuary, detected a common age pattern of mortality for humans, and published a mathematical description for this age pattern that he called a law of mortality. Our research revealed a remarkably similar age pattern of death for species as different as the mouse, dog, and human. Upon closer inspection, we discovered that people had lower death rates at older ages than the laboratory animals. This observation surprised us because we had expected no mortality differences between the species. We theorized that the lower death rates for humans were the result of the cumulative effect of manufactured survival time—medical interventions that were not made available to the laboratory animals. This led us to the startling conjecture that medical science may have already pushed human survival beyond the limits implied by a law of mortality.
The DAWN of EVOLUTIONARY MEDICINE
Why, in a body of such exquisite design, are there a
thousand flaws and frailties that make us vulnerable to
disease? If evolution by natural selection can shape
sophisticated mechanisms such as the eye, heart, and
brain, why hasn’t it shaped ways to prevent nearsightedness,
heart attacks, and Alzheimer’s disease? If we
can live a hundred years, why not two hundred?
RANDY NESSE AND GEORGE WILLIAMS,
WHY WE GET SICK
The human body is a miraculous living machine, with interacting components operating at a level of complexity far greater than any mechanical device ever created—from the DNA that orchestrates the symphony of life to a brain capable of storing, sorting, and interpreting massive amounts of complex information. However, the same living machine that evokes wonder and amazement also gives rise to the flaws and frailties noted in the quote above by Nesse and Williams. In Why We Get Sick, the authors suggest that an evolutionary understanding of disease can give rise to new approaches to its management and treatment. This evolutionary approach to medicine emphasizes the need to develop an understanding and appreciation of the natural healing mechanisms of the body, knowledge that is particularly relevant to the treatment of the diseases of aging.
Taking an evolutionary approach to medicine raises many questions about our traditional responses to the symptoms of disease. For example, when a microorganism invades the body, the body responds by automatically raising body temperature. Most people immediately reach for aspirin or some other medication that will reduce the fever as quickly as possible. A fever may be an unpleasant experience for people, but it is lethal for the invading organism. While fever-reducing medications make us feel better, they negate one of the defensive responses to invasion made by the body, possibly prolonging the disease or even worsening the illness.
Similarly, morning sickness can be a stressful ordeal for many women during the first three months of pregnancy. Fearing an abnormal pregnancy, these women often seek medical advice, and when the symptoms are severe, they may take medication to control the nausea. According to Nesse and Williams, morning sickness is an evolutionary adaptation. The first trimester of pregnancy is a vulnerable stage in the development of the fetus because of the incredible amount of biological activity that is taking place. Nausea, vomiting, and aversions to food may be adaptive responses designed to minimize exposure of the fetus to potentially damaging toxins during this critical phase of development. It may not be wise to interfere with a normal response designed to protect a developing fetus. These lessons from evolutionary medicine emphasize the importance of respecting, protecting, and enhancing the natural healing and protective powers of the human body.
In recent years, antibiotic-resistant strains of tuberculosis and meningitis have appeared in the United States and elsewhere—diseases that were previously thought to have been conquered. The emergence of new diseases and the reemergence of more virulent strains of known diseases is a serious health threat that has already received public attention through popular books and movies (such as The Hot Zone, The Coming Plague, and the 1995 movie Outbreak). The traditional response to these threats has been the development of new and even more powerful antibiotics. In military terms, this strategy can be likened to an escalating arms race. When a targeted microbe is not totally eliminated, progressively more potent weapons are required to combat the resistant survivors of the previous battle. Unfortunately, this battle has already given rise to microbes that are resistant to all known antibiotics, a problem that has the medical community seriously alarmed. Lessons learned from evolutionary biology suggest an alternative approach to the health risks posed by microbial adaptation. First, doctors must stop the indiscriminate use of antibiotics. As with alternating pesticides in agriculture, we can make it difficult for microbes to adapt by prescribing different kinds of antibiotics on a rotating schedule. Second, we can take advantage of the rapid adaptation of microbes by using antibiotics designed to lure microbes toward adaptations that make them vulnerable to other antibiotics.
Evolutionary medicine is based on a fundamental respect for the ability of the body to protect and heal itself. This concept is gaining support among the practitioners of Western medicine and their patients. Chiropractors used to be thought of as fringe elements in the world of medicine. Today, their documented contributions to public health have earned them both acceptance and respectability. Doctors and scientists are now investigating cancer treatments that encourage the immune system to attack cancer cells as if they were infectious microbes, an approach consistent with the principles of evolutionary medicine. As with anything new, it will take time before these and other such treatments fully make their way into mainstream medicine. Efforts are currently underway in the United States and elsewhere to subject the methods of evolutionary medicine to the time-honored methods of scientific testing. Those methods that prove to be effective in the treatment of disease will then become acceptable tools for maintaining health and extending longevity.
DESIGN FLAWS and ODDITIES
The human body is a miraculous biological machine, with a remarkable ability to protect and repair itself. Although evolution is not directed toward perfection, the countless wonders of the living world invariably bring images of perfection to mind. This notion has led some to portray health and extreme longevity as normal, and sickness, aging, and even death as abnormal departures from a normal healthy state. It would follow from this logic that sickness and aging can be reversed because they are caused by either external events or individual lifestyle choices.
A closer examination of the living world reveals that this is not the case, as a few examples relevant to human aging will illustrate. The ability to walk upright may have been a key evolutionary adaptation for early mankind, but it also causes a variety of health problems, particularly among older people. Over time, vertebrae that are aligned in the same direction as the force of gravity can become compressed, leading to lower back pain, pinched nerves, and ruptured disks. The human appendix originally housed bacteria used to digest plant matter. Today, the appendix is primarily a source of infection that we know as appendicitis. Other design flaws include a useless vestigial tail (the coccyx), a digestive and respiratory system that cross in the back of the throat, often leading to choking, and an inverted attachment of the optic nerve in the eye that creates a blind spot and increases the risk of a detached retina. The response of the body to puncture wounds is to conserve fluids by constricting the cardiovascular system, a life-saving adaptation in the dangerous world of our ancient ancestors. Today, this adaptation leads to an elevated risk of hypertension and stroke among people who survive to older ages.
These and other human design flaws are described in detail in a book appropriately entitled The Scars of Evolution (1990), by Elaine Morgan. Similar imperfections, contraptions, and evolutionary relics in plants and animals are discussed in The Panda’s Thumb (1980), by Stephen Jay Gould. Gould makes the interesting point that these “oddities of nature” provide some of the strongest evidence for evolution because an “omnipotent creator” could have achieved perfection—an argument also recognized by Charles Darwin.
Oddities and poorly designed anatomical structures exist because evolution does not strive for perfection; in fact, it does not strive for anything. Natural selection simply works with whatever biological material is available at the moment. Variations in biological design that confer a reproductive advantage within the prevailing environment will increase at the expense of those that do not. Recognizing that people are a hodgepodge of biological design features that would make Rube Goldberg proud leads to a much different perspective on aging, health, and longevity than one based on departures from expected perfection. Most of the design flaws in the human body would not have been a serious problem for our early ancestors because of their short life expectancy, but they can and do lead to significant health problems for people living well into old age today. In truth, sickness, aging, and death make perfect sense for living machines with body designs that were never intended to be tested in the laboratory of extended life. Accepting this reality opens new approaches to the treatment of disease.
BLOOD BANK of the FUTURE
One exciting prospect for using the body’s own systems for healing comes from the umbilical cord, which is usually discarded after birth. Scientists have recently discovered that the blood in the umbilical cord is a rich source of special cells known as stem cells. Stem cells are special because they have the ability not only to replace themselves, but also to grow into different kinds of specialized cells, such as red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Stem cells can transform themselves because they have not undergone the genetic changes (turning genes either on or off) that occur when a cell becomes specialized through a process known as differentiation. Once a cell becomes differentiated (for example, a nerve cell), it is less able to repair damage that accumulates in its DNA, the sort of damage often associated with the aging process.
Although the potential therapeutic value of stem cells has been appreciated for some time, physicians did not start harvesting and using cord blood to treat human diseases until 1988. Cord blood has already been used successfully in the treatment of anemia, immune disorders, breast cancer, lymphoma, neuroblastoma, leukemia, multiple sclerosis, and numerous genetic diseases. For example, patients who undergo aggressive radiation therapies for cancer often suffer a significant loss of the bone marrow that produces blood cells. The traditional response—a bone marrow transplant—is both difficult and dangerous. An injection of cord blood is far less invasive than a marrow transplant, and recent studies have demonstrated that the injections are just as effective. Once injected, the stem cells migrate to the bone marrow, where they begin the task of producing healthy blood cells. Researchers who study cord blood believe that it could also play an important role in future treatments for osteoporosis, AIDS, Hodgkin’s disease, cystic fibrosis, and a variety of cancers.
Currently, supplies of cord blood depend on donors who allow the cord blood of their child to be made available to others. As the demands and applications for cord blood grow, the harvesting, freezing, and storage of cord blood in blood banks may become routine. The huge cost savings associated with using cord blood injections as an alternative to bone marrow transplants will no doubt encourage their use and they may even be required by insurance companies in the future. A better understanding of how the stem cells of cord blood resist the genetic consequences of aging may eventually contribute to the development of new and improved treatments for many diseases and disorders associated with aging.
CULTIVATING the PRIMORDIAL CELLS of LIFE
A related technology that will soon be used to treat aging-related diseases involves specialized cells that exist for only a brief moment in the earliest stages of life. When a fertilized egg begins to divide, a long developmental process begins that eventually culminates in the construction of a human being. During one of the earliest stages of this process, a hollow sphere of cells known as the blastula begins to form. Within the blastula is a small cluster of cells known as embryonic stem cells. These embryonic stem cells will eventually differentiate into the specialized cells that form the various tissues and organs of the developing embryo, including the embryonic germ cells that will give rise to eggs and sperm. Normally, once an embryonic stem cell differentiates, it is permanently committed to the developmental pathway that forms a specific type of tissue.
In the fall of 1998, an astonishing scientific discovery was announced that went largely unnoticed by the general public. Incredibly, Dr. James A. Thomson of the University of Wisconsin and Dr. John Gearhart from Johns Hopkins University had figured out how to isolate embryonic germ cells and cause them to revert back to embryonic stem cells. Stem cells can be grown and maintained in the laboratory, and because they are precursors to other kinds of cells, they have the potential to become virtually any kind of cell that exists in the body. This discovery raises the amazing prospect that in the future, critically ill patients may not need to wait for a donor in order to receive an organ transplant—the needed organ or tissue will be grown in the laboratory. More immediately, stem cells injected into a diseased organ such as the heart, liver, or brain could be induced to replace damaged or compromised tissue within these organs. Although the possibilities are endless, diseases like insulin-dependent diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and atherosclerosis are considered prime candidates for this future technology. This kind of advance has the potential to manufacture survival time by curing the diseases of aging rather than simply treating their symptoms—a bio-medical breakthrough that could have a profound impact on the way medicine is practiced in the twenty-first century.
Unfortunately, the source of embryonic germ cells is somewhat problematic. At present, the blastocysts that harbor these cells come from embryos that are either aborted (which are difficult to capture at the proper developmental stage), or donated after being created by in vitro fertilization. Both sources give rise to an ethical dilemma that remains unresolved: what to do with a technology that must terminate a potential life in order to save or extend an existing life.
This technology also poses technical problems that have not yet been solved. As with organ transplants, tissue rejection forms a serious obstacle to the transfer of embryonic stem cells. Until this problem is solved, the best source of embryonic stem cells would be the patient; but these cells are not available to anyone alive today because they only exist for a brief period of time during the very early stages of a developing embryo. In theory, these cells could be created by cloning an embryo from the patient’s own cells. However, it is an understatement to say that there will be ethical dilemmas associated with cloning an embryo solely for the “harvest” of its stem cells. Scientists also face a more fundamental obstacle to the use of this technology; it is not yet known how to direct embryonic stem cells to make a specific kind of cell, tissue, or organ. Nobody knows how long it will take to resolve these ethical and technical problems. One thing is for sure: when they are resolved, the future of medicine will be changed forever.
LIVING BEYOND OUR BIOLOGICAL LIMITS
Probably everybody reading this book knows someone who would be dead were it not for a life-saving medical intervention. In the developed countries of the world, there are enough people living on manufactured time to have a measurable impact on the life expectancy of the country in which they live.
In North America, Western Europe, Japan, and Australia, life expectancy increased dramatically during the twentieth century. Population scientists attribute these gains to improvements in sanitation and living conditions rather than to advances in medical technology because the bulk of the increase occurred well before the introduction of antibiotics. Over the last twenty-five years, death rates have continued to decline rapidly throughout the developed nations of the world, particularly among people at middle and older ages. Some scientists credit the technologies of biomedical science for these declines, while others argue that the adoption of healthier lifestyles is responsible. Whatever the cause, the declines observed in death rates in recent years have inspired some advocates of prolongevity to make the bold prediction that most fatal diseases will eventually be eliminated and that life expectancy will continue its dramatic rise in the future. The most zealous advocates of prolongevity totally reject the existence of biologically imposed upper limits on lifespan (individual longevity potential), declaring that the life expectancies of human populations will climb indefinitely. For some, the recent declines in death rates at older ages prove that even if there is a biological limit to life expectancy, it must exist somewhere beyond the visible longevity horizon.
We suggest that the reason prolongevists cannot detect a biological limit to life expectancy is because that limit has already effectively been surpassed in some populations. Debates over limits to life expectancy may sound like an intellectual game, but this issue has profound implications for science and public policy. Assume for the moment that all of the major fatal diseases are a product of hazardous environments and poor lifestyles and may therefore ultimately be eliminated. If so, then biomedical research should focus on identifying those environments and lifestyles that cause disease, and then find ways to protect people from harmful environments and encourage them to adopt healthier lifestyles. If this view determined public health policy, then the biomedical community would try to treat the symptoms of a disease only until the environmental and behavioral causes for the disease could be identified and controlled. In fact, this view has motivated much scientific research.
Now assume that for human populations buffered from the hazards of nature, many people are already living beyond their longevity potential because of medical intervention. This means that the observed life expectancy of the population to which they belong has been increased artificially by the addition of manufactured survival time. When we acknowledge the internal, biological sources of disease and aging, it becomes clear that future improvements in lifestyles and the environment will only produce modest increases in life expectancy in countries where people already live to old age. Additional significant increases in life expectancy can only come from advances in biomedical technology that alter the course of aging itself. The medical miraclemakers will have to manufacture progressively more survival time for progressively more people surviving to progressively older ages in order to continue the decline in death rates. Entropy in the life table and a genetic legacy of design flaws and intrinsic disease processes received from our ancestors will make this a daunting task. In other words, doctors and scientists will not only have to deal with the symptoms of disease, they will have to attack the underlying biological processes that cause aging and disease. If successful, these biomedical breakthroughs will lower or remove biological barriers that currently deny access to extreme longevity for most people.
OVER THE COURSE of the twentieth century, our species has experienced a dramatic shift in the primary source of threats to life—from external environmental threats to the life-threatening internal failures of a human body that was not designed for extended survival. This unprecedented mortality transition has been the direct product of an avid pursuit of knowledge about basic biology and the environment that gives it meaning. The biomedical response to health crises has now begun to shift from medical care intended to treat the symptoms of illness to interventions that are designed to cure the underlying causes of disease. Although great strides have been made in understanding the remarkable capacity of the human body to heal itself, almost everyone eventually confronts a health crisis that cannot be overcome without help. Every threat to life that is averted by a medical intervention artificially extends the lifespan of an individual and generates manufactured survival time that incrementally raises the life expectancy of the population to which that individual belongs.
The medical miraclemakers of the twentieth century have done an extraordinary job of saving the lives of people at every age, often manufacturing survival time more than once for the same person. It is easy to appreciate the big miracles, but we also benefit from countless small miracles performed by those in health-related occupations every day. From obscure scientists making important biomedical discoveries, to family physicians detecting potential health crises before they become a problem, to dentists and dental hygienists preserving our teeth, to pharmacists dispensing miracle drugs, our lives are qualitatively better and considerably longer on average than was the case just a few generations ago. These facts should be a reminder of how good life is today.
The miraclemakers of the future will undoubtedly continue to discover new ways to prolong life. However, as the population continues to age in the twenty-first century, we must balance the survival time that is manufactured with an equal emphasis on the quality of that survival time. This will require an entirely new approach to biomedical technology—an approach that moves beyond the treatment of diseases and their symptoms to a determined effort to identify and modify the mechanisms responsible for aging and disease.
Out of the darkness of the womb, into the darkness of the grave,
man passes across his narrow strip of life. Two vast
eternities stretch oceanlike on either side of the
island of individual existence, and through
the darkness that enshrouds them no
human eye, it has been thought,
could ever pierce.
ANNIE BESANT, 1886
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:26
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The
QUEST
for
IMMORTALITY
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CHAPTER 1
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Death and Immortality: Early Views
Of all the questions which, throughout the centuries,
have escaped from the lips of man, there is none which
has been asked with such persistence than [sic]
“Where do I come? Whither shall I go?”
ANNIE BESANT
IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY, the French physiologist Charles-Edouard Brown-Séquard announced a miraculous discovery: the secret to rejuvenation. He removed and crushed the testicles of domesticated animals, extracted “vital” substances from them, then used the resulting concoction to inoculate older people against the “aging disease.” His treatment appeared to work. Those inoculated reported improved mental acuity and physical vigor. When Brown-Séquard injected himself with this extract at the age of seventy-two, he claimed to have better control over his bladder and bowels.
Eugen Steinach, a professor of physiology in Vienna in the 1920s, found fame and fortune by convincing older men that they would be rejuvenated by a vasectomy or by having the testicles of younger men grafted onto their own. Soon, rejuvenation clinics sprang up everywhere and enterprising surgeons devised a number of antiaging therapies, including the application of electricity to the testicles and “stimulating” doses of X rays and radium to the sex organs.
Today, rejuvenation clinics throughout the world are employing modern versions of these bizarre methods. For example, at a rejuvenation clinic in the United States, a combination of hormones and antioxidants is ingested by and injected into people who have been led to believe that these “treatments” will slow down or reverse the aging process. A popular antiaging therapy in Europe is to journey into mountain mines where the elevated temperature, high humidity, and radon gas are believed to have therapeutic properties. For thousands of years, mankind has sought ways to halt or reverse aging, cheat death, and achieve immortality.
Death is an uncomfortable and often frightening subject. What most of us know about death we have learned from the movies. The feigned and often violent deaths portrayed in movies are abrupt terminations of life that rarely have anything to do with the process of aging. In the real world, terminal illnesses are often protracted, and death, when it comes, is so incomprehensible to those who witness it that it seems unreal.
Despite intense scrutiny, aging and death remain as two of humanity’s great unsolved mysteries. In a world of high-tech medicine and extensive knowledge of human biology, aging and death continue to evade comprehension just as they have throughout a history dominated by magic, superstition, and pseudoscience. Perceptions of aging and death have changed dramatically over the course of history, influencing everything from religion and philosophy to science and medicine. What has remained constant is the effort to explain aging and death, and to find ways to escape them.
EARLY FATALISTS
The early history of religion, science, and philosophy was infused with an acceptance of aging and death as an inevitable and perhaps even desirable end to earthly life. Our ancestors were nearly defenseless in the face of a relentless onslaught of disease. They responded to their vulnerability by developing concepts such as life after death to soften its harsh reality.
From within this fatalistic view of aging and death sprang forth an idealized notion of what life could and perhaps should be. The tragedy of losing children to infectious diseases, young women during childbirth, and the eventual loss of old people to aging-related diseases, has led nearly every culture to create an idealized world within its written and oral folklore. In these utopian worlds, life exists without disease, disability, or death. The pleasures and vigor of youth are not only maintained indefinitely but are greatly enhanced by the wisdom that comes with increasing age. If human beings must struggle through pain and anguish just to live a few decades, then it was believed that there must be forms of life that benefit from our struggles, or places on earth where paradise reigns. There must be gods and a handful of lucky mortals who are not only free from disease but throughout their immortal lives remain forever young. These utopian worlds appear repeatedly throughout history as hopeful images of what life must be like somewhere—either on earth for mortals or in heaven for the deceased or the gods.
When our ancestors first wrote about such utopian worlds, they did not settle for the mere elimination of just one plague or disease. They wanted it all—eternal youth and immortality. For those who had already experienced the ravages of time, they wanted rejuvenation. For their loved ones who had already died, they wanted resurrection. These idealized worlds, created to soften the reality of life in a world filled with pain and suffering, continue to play a prominent role in the myth, legend, and folklore of aging and death today. The unending quest for immortality has transcended geography, culture, and time—a quest that has probably touched not only your life but the lives of most people in modern times.
The Greek legend of Prometheus and Pandora, from the eighth or ninth century B.C., provides one of the first mythical accounts of the origin of death. Prometheus, known for his cunning and favor with mortals, was a son of Iapetus, the Titan who was overthrown by the god Zeus. When Prometheus aroused the wrath of Zeus by offending him, Zeus punished Prometheus and the humans to whom he was sympathetic by barring fire from mortals. In defiance, Prometheus stole the fire and carried it down to earth. In retaliation for this act, Zeus decided to “give men as the price for fire an evil thing in which they may all be glad of heart while they embrace their own destruction.” Zeus created Pandora, the first woman, who had “charming traits” to hide her wicked nature. The jar that Pandora brought with her to the world was filled with evil things, including among them plagues, disease, and old age. The Prometheus legend was intended to illustrate not only the great power of Zeus, but also that old age and death are due to the will of the gods and are thus unchangeable. The idea that women are responsible for aging and death is a recurring theme in a history chronicled principally by men.
The Babylonian legend about Gilgamesh, who was part-man, part-god, is another lesson on the inevitability of aging and death. Gilgamesh was an arrogant young king who treated his subjects poorly. In an attempt to teach the king humility, the gods created Enkidu—a man of incredible strength who promptly engaged the young Gilgamesh in combat. Combat eventually gave way to mutual admiration; they became the best of friends and traveled the world seeking adventure. But after they had inappropriately directed their bravado at a goddess, the gods killed Enkidu—leading Gilgamesh to contemplate his own mortality.
Obsessed with obtaining immortality, Gilgamesh sought the advice of a sage. He was first told that immortality could be achieved by mastering sleep and was instructed to stay awake for six days and seven nights. Weary from his long travels, he eventually fell asleep. His last hope was to obtain a plant at the bottom of the sea that was believed to possess the power of rejuvenation. After obtaining the plant, Gilgamesh took time to bathe in a pool of cold water. As he bathed, a serpent appeared and ate the plant—providing an early rationale for why snakes appear to renew their lives by shedding their old skins. The moral of this legend was that if death was inevitable for a part-god with Herculean strength, then ordinary people must also accept the fate of their mortal lives.
The story of Adam and Eve provides a biblical explanation for the origin of death. Upon being placed in the Garden of Eden, God told Adam that he could eat fruit from any tree except the Tree of Knowledge. He could gain immortality by eating fruit from the Tree of Life, but death would be the penalty if he ate from the Tree of Knowledge. Eve, seduced by the serpent to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, enticed Adam to do the same. The consequence was that humans became subject to death: “in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19; Revised Standard Version and other translations for subsequent quotes).
Epicurus, the fourth-century B.C. Greek philosopher, carried the fatalistic view a step further. He proposed that a tranquil life could be attained by removing the fear of death through a proper attitude. The Epicureans also believed in the “fullness of pleasure,” a concept derived from the premise that it was futile to live forever because life offered only a limited number of gratifications. An oversimplified version of this concept goes something like, eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die—a modified passage from Isaiah in the Old Testament. The Roman poet Lucretius in the first century B.C. also argued that it was pointless to prolong life because no matter how long you live, the length of the time you spend alive is insignificant compared with the infinite time you spend dead.
In the second century A.D. while Marcus Aurelius was emperor, Stoicism was the official philosophy of the Roman Empire. Average length of life then was roughly 25 years, which implies that approximately one-third to one-half of all the babies born at that time died before reaching their first birthday. Contemporary philosophers tried to rationalize this cruel reality by suggesting that length of life then was a matter of no importance, and that death was a fact of life that everybody must accept. The Stoics even went so far as to suggest that death should be embraced because it was natural and necessary for the proper functioning of the universe. In a world where infectious diseases routinely decimated the young, it is not surprising that the Stoics developed a philosophy that not only rejected the extension of life but embraced death.
The EARLY BIOLOGY of FATALISM
A biological perspective on old age and death first appeared in essays written by the Hippocratic physicians of the fifth century B.C. and epitomized by the work of Aristotle. The Hippocratic physicians divided the lifespan of mankind into four “regions,” each with its own unique qualities associated with aging. Childhood was hot and moist; youth was hot and dry; adulthood was cold and dry; and old age was cold and moist. Aristotle modified this scheme by merging adulthood and old age into a single region that he described as cold and dry. Aristotle believed that aging and death came about by a transformation of the body from one that was hot and moist to one that was cold and dry—a change that he believed not only inevitable but also desirable.
Aristotle’s cosmology was based on fundamental differences between the physical components of earth and heaven. He believed that all things on earth, including living things, were composed of four basic elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Everything in the heavens (sun, planets, and stars) contained the four basic elements plus an additional one called ether. Only things containing ether remained unchanged through time. Immortality was a state of existence restricted to the heavens. On earth, aging and death were considered by Aristotle to be the natural consequences of inevitable change and decay. Aristotle admired nature’s ingenuity because everything appeared to occur in a well-planned and organized way. For example, he noticed that teeth fall out in old age because the nearness of death makes them no longer necessary.
Two other intellectuals whose ideas about old age and death continue to influence modern thinking about aging were the Greek physician Galen from the second century A.D. and the Arabic philosopher/physician Avicenna from the tenth to eleventh century A.D. Galen believed that aging began at conception. He believed that heat from the male sperm began a drying process that initially stimulated growth and development, but by early adulthood, the drying process shifted from a beneficial to a harmful mode. This transition was characterized by a loss of innate moisture—eventually leading the body to become cold and dry. Although immortality could theoretically be achieved by retaining the innate moisture of the body, Galen believed the drying process was not only inevitable but a natural part of the order of the universe. According to Galen, aging was not a disease but a natural and expected phenomenon.
The views of Avicenna from the Islamic tradition were similar to those of Aristotle and Galen. Besides believing that aging was inevitable, Avicenna had the remarkable insight to suggest that “the art of maintaining the health is not the art of averting death . . . or of securing the utmost longevity possible . . . the art of maintaining health consists in guiding the body to its natural span of life. . . .” Even a thousand years ago, insightful scholars like Avicenna knew that life should not be lived as a constant battle against death, but rather as the daily pursuit of a healthy life.
The RELIGIOUS LEGACY
The Old and New Testaments of the Bible have had an important influence on the philosophical concept of fatalism (the belief that aging and death are not only inevitable but desirable) as well as on scientific hypotheses about old age and death. In the Old Testament, a period of human history is described during which the ancient patriarchs supposedly lived much longer than subsequent generations. Naturally, there is considerable debate about whether these reported ages are a metaphor or should be taken literally. Adam supposedly lived 930 years and was 130 years old when his third son, Seth, was born. Methuselah, who lived 969 years, holds the record as the longest-lived patriarch, while Noah, who was reported to have lived 950 years, was the last of the extremely long-lived patriarchs. Just before the Great Flood, God said: “My Spirit will not contend [remain in] man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years” (Genesis 6:3). This biblical reference to a 120-year lifespan for mankind is often erroneously presented as scientific fact.
The Old Testament states clearly that God is in complete control over aging, disease, and the longevity of every living thing. For example, from Ecclesiastes (3:19), “Man’s fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath [spirit]; man has no advantage over the animal.” From Job (14:5), “Man’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.” And from Proverbs (10:27), “The fear of the Lord adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.” In Isaiah (65:20), God promised the Babylonian exiles who returned to Jerusalem that he would give them health and longevity in their new kingdom: “Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.”
A significant transition occurs in the New Testament. Long life is no longer offered as a reward for righteousness; instead, there is almost an indifference to matters of the body. While the Old Testament makes it clear that the original sin of Adam is responsible for the judgment that brought death to mankind, the New Testament decrees that eternal life is accessible to everyone because of the sacrifice that God made of His only son: “. . . by the trespass of one man [Adam], death reigned through that one man . . . so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men . . . eternal life through Jesus Christ. . . .” (Romans: 5:15–21). The New Testament promises spiritual immortality through death and subsequent resurrection. Death becomes, once again, not only necessary but desirable.
Some of the most interesting ideas on fatalism come from the writings of the thirteenth-century mystic St. Thomas Aquinas and of the earlier Christian father St. Augustine. According to St. Thomas, before Adam ate from the Tree of Knowledge, his body was subject to the ravages of time. However, God gave him a supernatural power to combat the natural deterioration experienced by other living things. After eating the apple from the Tree of Knowledge, God withdrew this supernatural power. Thereafter, all humans were subject to the natural process of deterioration that led to old age and death. Interestingly, Aquinas linked death to the inability of men and women to control their minds or maintain their willpower. The implication is that by reasserting control over the mind, the supernatural power taken by God could be restored and perfect health and immortality achieved. This mind-over-body philosophy remains an important element of the ideology that drives the modern antiaging movement.
For his part, Augustine of Hippo believed that the loss of mind-body control not only leads to death but also to sexual lust. This sexual tension and linkage between sex and death can be found throughout the Old and New Testaments. In a broader sense, this linkage is also a common thread that weaves its way through the extensive historical literature on longevity.
PROLONGEVITY
Not everyone shared the resignation of the fatalists. Prolongevists, as they have come to be known, believe that aging and death are amenable to modification, and that longevity can be extended through human intervention—a belief that has persisted throughout history. Although all prolongevists believe that longevity can be extended, their techniques to achieve this goal have differed dramatically. Some prolongevists have claimed that a few years can be added to life, while the more radical prolongevists have claimed that the elimination of human disease is going to make the dream of eternal youth and immortality a reality.
Taoists were the first to develop a systematic effort to prolong the lifespan. Taoism is a religion formed in ancient China during the third century B.C. Its ideology and strict regimens for living are based on a fundamental belief that the prolongation of life is not only possible but highly desirable.
At the center of Taoist philosophy is the concept of tao (pronounced dow), which translates into “the way” but has been interpreted to mean “the mother of all things” or “the unity of nature.” Unlike the Greek philosophers, the ancient Chinese did not strictly separate spirit and matter—making it possible and even desirable to experience a transformation from the physical body into an immortal spiritual being. An early and influential Taoist thinker, Ko Hung, suggested that animals could be changed from one species to another, that lead could be transformed into gold (the basis of alchemy), and that mortal humans should strive to become immortal beings (known as hsien). The legends about hsien gave birth to the Taoist methods for extending the lives of mortals.
There are many prolongevity elements in Taoist thinking, but perhaps the most important are the concepts of quietism and primitivism. Quietism is a philosophy of life and a way of living that is captured by the term wu wei, which translates to “effortless action.” Effortless action involves a lifestyle and way of thinking that dampens the emotions. Taoists believed that people are endowed from birth with a fixed amount of “vital breath” that is consumed like fuel by emotions that come from the heart. A more passive life without honors and riches would conserve vital breath and thus permit the person to live longer. With proper discipline, the use of vital breath could be stopped altogether and the person would be transformed from a mortal being to a hsien. The ancient Chinese considered the “true men of old” to be those who perfected quietism and embraced primitivism—devoting themselves to a simple and modest lifestyle.
Taoists developed dietary practices in order to starve and drug “evil beings”—referred to as the Three Worms—who were thought to inhabit the body and hasten its demise by causing physical problems and disease. Battling the evil beings took the form of denying them the grains (such as wheat and rice) thought to be responsible for their existence, and eating magical foods like cinnamon, licorice, cinnabar, and ginseng that would kill them. Other hsien medicines included herbs, roots, and minerals, and animal and plant products such as eggs, turtles, peaches, and parts of trees. All were revered for their ability to enhance longevity. Some of these products are still being sold and promoted today. A peach-flavored tea referred to as Longevity Tea is popular in many restaurants in the United States. Many modern myths about remedies that forestall or reverse aging are descendants of these ancient Taoist beliefs.
Central to early Taoist thinking was a linkage between the mortal body and the immortal heavens. Taoists envisioned the air entering the lungs as blending with the sky—the same sky that reached up to merge with the heavens. By controlling the breath, a more intimate physical contact with the heavens could be achieved. If breathing techniques could be perfected, then immortality could be attained. A series of breathing exercises was devised to achieve the ultimate goal of holding one’s breath for the time normally required for 1,000 respirations. Techniques were also devised to promote the conscious guidance of inhaled air through various parts of the body, and through a method referred to as “embryonic respiration” to nourish the body by extracting nutrients from the air rather than food. Adherents of these practices learned how to dramatically reduce their metabolic rate and use of oxygen; they also adopted a near-starvation diet consisting mostly of roots, berries, and other fruits. (There are scientific studies today that appear to support the benefits of the dietary practices of Taoists.)
According to Gerald Gruman, a scholar of prolongevity, “Taoism’s greatest achievement was to take prolongevitism from the realm of magic and carry it forward to a stage which is best termed proto-science. Although Taoists did not originate the notion of prolongevity; what they did was to take the prolongevitist vagaries of folklore and form them into an organized body of concepts and hypotheses suitable for assimilation by science.” In addition, the Taoists provided the first systematic effort to identify specific foods, medicines, and chemicals associated with aging and disease. They also proposed behavioral changes that form a conceptual basis for several scientific and pseudoscientific efforts currently being promoted as ways to slow down or reverse the process of aging. Taoist exercises associated with longevity have been an influential force throughout the centuries and are still practiced today in the form of Tai Chi Chuan, acupuncture, and techniques of what is now known as Swedish massage.
The ALCHEMY of PROLONGEVITY
Alchemy grew out of the ancient belief that ordinary metals could be transmuted into silver and gold. Considered by most to be a noble profession, alchemists were revered members of their community. According to Dr. John Read from The University in Scotland, who chronicled the historical roots of this ancient form of chemistry in his book From Alchemy to Chemistry (1995), the great alchemists thought of their work as a sacred trust. Famous alchemists stood beside rulers and kings, commanded great sums of money, and lived privileged lives. Some of the more unsavory ones used chemistry that would be rudimentary by today’s standards in order to dazzle investors and an unsuspecting public into believing that they would eventually be able to transform elementary metals into gold.
Like any good scientist today, the alchemists of the early prolongevity movement were systematic and methodical. Immortality was simply a puzzle; it was only necessary to find the right pieces and put them together in the right order. Alchemists believed that a Fountain of Youth existed, and their investors backed this belief with massive sums of money. Through an orderly line of reasoning and rigorous scientific investigation, the alchemists believed that all the proper steps required to transform mortal men into immortal beings would eventually be discovered.
The earliest applications of alchemy involved efforts by the Chinese to cure disease and extend longevity. Ko Hung, the Taoist, was one of the first outspoken proponents of prolongevity. He considered arrogant and dogmatic the prevailing attitude that death was inevitable and immortality impossible, especially given the limited knowledge about aging and death that existed at his time. The metamorphosis of caterpillars into butterflies, tadpoles into frogs, and seeds into flowers gave visible proof from nature that the transformation of living things was possible. If metals and living things could be transformed from one thing to another, then transformations from sickness to health, and from mortality to immortality, should also be possible.
To achieve these transformations, Ko Hung believed it was necessary to find and purify highly vitalized foods—herbs, minerals, chemicals, and other substances that, when ingested, would increase the “life force.” These life-sustaining substances had visible properties which he described in detail—shining or bright, fluid or wet, sharp or bitter in taste, red or scarlet in color, and often shaped like a man or animal (root plants, for instance). Gold was an especially important hsien substance because it was resistant to chemical change or, as the Taoists would say, noncorruptible in its nature. As such, it was a highly desired substance that was thought to greatly enhance longevity. Several methods were devised for ingesting gold, including mixing it with organic materials to swallow in pill form, or by making cups of gold from which one would drink and so ingest minute quantities of the valuable substance. What is particularly fascinating about gold was that it was often desired not because of its enduring beauty or monetary value, but because it was considered the most potent antiaging substance known to mankind.
Another important substance thought to promote longevity was cinnabar—known today as mercuric sulfide. This substance was coveted because it was blood red in color and turns into a silvery and slippery liquid (mercury) when heated—both properties associated with longevity. Mercury, in turn, transforms into a red powder known as mercuric oxide when heated. According to the Chinese alchemists, any substance maintaining the visible properties associated with longevity, when challenged by heat or organic chemicals, would confer enhanced longevity if consumed in small quantities.
The use of alchemy to influence aging and disease eventually spread from the Chinese to the Arab world. Based on the extensive writings on this subject by the Arab physician Jabir, this flow of information must have occurred by the eighth century A.D. It appears that Jabir was primarily interested in alchemy for its medicinal purposes—creating elixirs to treat and cure disease. He also espoused the belief that men could master the forces of nature, a basic tenet of the prolongevity movement. It was through Jabir that Taoist thinking about aging and disease was transmitted to the West. After Jabir, many historical figures were important to the prolongevity movement. But two in particular have had a profound influence on modern views about methods of extending life: Roger Bacon and Luigi Cornaro.
PROMINENT PROLONGEVISTS
Many consider Roger Bacon, an English philosopher and scientist of the thirteenth century, the father of the modern prolongevity movement. He believed that there was no fixed limit to life and that the shortened lives of his contemporaries, relative to the biblical patriarchs, were due entirely to immoral and unhealthy lifestyles. He also believed that life could be extended by using the “secret arts” of the past, which to him involved the use of life-prolonging chemicals, foods, and other substances. Like Galen and Avicenna before him, Bacon believed that old age was due to the loss of innate moisture with the passage of time.
Although these ideas were not new, Bacon did contribute a new twist to the philosophy that nature could be controlled and longevity extended. He suggested that the negative effects on longevity caused by immoral and unhealthy lifestyles were not only passed from one generation to the next, but they were cumulative over time. To Bacon, this explained the progressive decline in the length of life that had occurred from the time of the ancient patriarchs. According to Bacon, lifespans would continue to shorten every generation even if there was no change in behavior from the preceding generation. However, Bacon also believed that this process could be reversed and the human lifespan restored to the 900 years or more lived by the ancient patriarchs. His solution to increasing longevity comes straight out of the Fountain of Youth tradition that is still popular today. Substances like pearl, coral, aloe wood, gold, and “bone from a stag’s heart” were thought to contain an innate moisture or vital spirit which, when ingested in small quantities, would replenish that lost during the course of life.
Bacon and his contemporaries also recommended the breath of a young virgin as a form of antiaging therapy for old men. Since the young were thought to possess a large supply of the “vital principle,” or breath, it was believed that older men could absorb some of it by being in their company. By the thirteenth century it was already known that breathing the same air as someone who was sick could spread disease; it seemed plausible, therefore, that health could be transmitted in the same way. This form of therapy for old age became quite popular. Curiously, breathing the air of young virgin boys was never mentioned as an antiaging therapy for older women.
Another approach involved what has become known as the Philosopher’s Stone. Bacon and the alchemists who preceded him all believed that the transmutation of metals and living things was possible. One of the great dreams of every alchemist was to transform gold into a purer form that would have even more powerful antiaging properties than regular gold. The idea that gold could be made purer led to the belief that all things had a more pure essence. The purer form could be attained through the use of the Philosopher’s Stone, which was a mythical stone (or powder) of great power that was thought to be created through a series of chemical transformations using a secret formula involving the techniques of alchemy—heating, distilling, and dissolving. According to the alchemists, these purified substances held the most promise for altering the human lifespan. The contemporary search for biochemical means of lengthening the lifespan has its origins in the attempts made by alchemists to extend life through transmutation.
Luigi Cornaro, a member of the Italian nobility in the fifteenth century, also had a profound influence on the modern prolongevity movement. For the first forty years of his life, Cornaro admits that he pursued an indulgent lifestyle replete with extravagant food and “frequent overindulgence in sensual pleasure.” When his health began to fail, a physician warned Cornaro that his self-indulgent habits would lead to his early demise. Once the diet prescribed by his physicians was modified to suit his own tastes, Cornaro experienced a complete recovery from his illnesses. Cornaro went on to live a healthy and happy life, free from disease, and greatly enjoyed the company of his eleven grandchildren right up to his death at the age of ninety-eight.
Cornaro offered a simple approach to healthful ways of living, which explains why it has been accepted and heartily endorsed for centuries after his death. He accepted the common belief that everyone is born with a fixed quantity of “vital principle” required for life, which is used up during the course of living. Cornaro also believed that even the weakest people are born with enough “vital principle” to live 100 years; those endowed with a stronger constitution could live to the biblical maximum of 120 years. Given contemporary rumors of people living to 150 years or more, Cornaro believed that even these incredible ages could be achieved.
His recipe for a healthful lifestyle was to eat foods that agreed with you, and to eat them in quantities that the stomach could digest easily. For Cornaro, this meant small portions of bread, meat, broth with egg, and light wine. He emphasized, however, that this regimen would differ for each person depending on their personal desires. Cornaro also suggested that with advancing age, the amount of food ingested should be reduced because the “natural heat” of the elderly decreased, and thus less fuel was needed. Avoiding the extremes of life, such as excessive heat, cold, fatigue, and hatred, was also important.
The central element of Cornaro’s philosophy was that by nature man is healthy. From his perspective, all diseases were caused by unhealthy lifestyles. Cornaro carried his reasoning one logical but big step further when he suggested that all diseases could be avoided. When scientists today make predictions of extreme life expectancies, their assumptions bear an uncanny resemblance to those of Luigi Cornaro.
The THREE BRANCHES of PROLONGEVITY
Three distinct themes characterize the myths, legends, and pseudoscience of prolongevity. One is based on what are known as Antediluvian legends—the belief that people from the distant past lived far longer than people today. Hyperborean legends comprise the second theme—the belief that there are places in the world where people live exceptionally long lives. The third and best known theme involves the Fountain legends—magical waters, foods, herbs, minerals, or other substances believed to have the power to rejuvenate the old, resuscitate the dead, bestow immortality among the living, and cure every disease known to afflict mankind.
The Antediluvian Legends
Several cultures and religious traditions maintain legends that our ancient ancestors lived much longer than people live today. According to Hebrew tradition, many of the patriarchs listed in the Bible lived extremely long lives. There are at least two biblical interpretations of the ages reported for these patriarchs. Those who interpret the Bible literally contend that there was a time in history when mankind was either immortal (in the Garden of Eden during the time of Adam) or extremely long-lived (during the time between Adam and Noah). Others suggest that the extreme longevity of biblical patriarchs should not be taken literally; instead, their long lives were symbolic of their importance in the history of mankind.
The Greek philosopher Hesiod, who gave the first account of the Prometheus legend, provided another Antediluvian theme. He divided the history of mankind into five distinct epochs. The first epoch was the Age of Gold—a time of peace and tranquility when mortals never aged. During the Age of Silver, childhood lasted a hundred years but adults lived only a short time. Hesiod’s own epoch was the Age of Bronze—a time of deceit, injustice, and envy, when violence threatened to destroy the world. When the Bronze Age had extinguished, Zeus created a godlike race known as demigods who lived life without pain and suffering in what was referred to as the Heroic Age. The fifth age of mankind, the Age of Iron, is our world of today which is characterized by violence and the love of profit. According to Hesiod, Zeus will destroy this race of mortal men because we will dishonor our parents in their old age by not repaying them for the cost of their nurture. Hesiod explained old age and death and a decreasing lifespan as the product of a lifestyle that had become increasingly more decadent with time. Despite this dismal trend, Hesiod was optimistic that the forthcoming epoch might be better. The imagery of an idyllic distant time in the past when people were forever young, followed by a progressive trend toward shorter lifespans driven by increasingly more decadent lifestyles, is a classic Antediluvian theme.
The Hyperborean Legends
According to Greek mythology, there was a place on earth where people lived long lives free from disease and aging. These people were referred to as Hyperboreans—hyper meaning “beyond” and Boreas meaning “the North Wind”—because they were thought to occupy a place in the far northern hemisphere. Many distinct cultures and time periods possess mythologies about places of paradise, referred to collectively as the Hyperborean legends.
For much of human history, limited mobility and barriers to communication meant that most people spent their lives in relative isolation. These times and cultures gave birth to the Hyperborean legends. Early examples include reports of a 150-year lifespan for people living on Mount Tmolus in Asia Minor, and a 400-year lifespan for people living on Mount Athos in Greece. The notion that paradise is not only real but is also accessible to everyone is a common theme among these early legends. Later, the major religions modified this theme to incorporate a paradise that was accessible only after death, and even then one that was restricted to those whose lives had been governed by the values of their religion.
A classic Hyperborean legend comes from India. In this legend, there existed a land far to the north called Uttarakurus where the people enjoyed perfect health, lived for a thousand years, and experienced dazzling sensual pleasures. The source of these wondrous benefits was the fruit of the Jambu tree, which conferred immunity from illness and old age. As is often the case with Hyperborean legends, it is unclear whether mere mortals had access to these lands or whether such places were accessible only to the gods or those who had already died.
Similar themes weave their way through Hyperborean legends throughout history. In the Middle Ages, countless ships set sail across the Atlantic ocean in search of legendary islands such as St. Brendan’s Island, Avalon, Atlantis, and Antilia, thought to contain paradise. At the time of Columbus, it was widely believed that paradise was located on top of three mountains overlooking four rivers—the Tigris, Euphrates, Nile, and Ganges. In fact, Columbus was convinced that he had discovered the long-sought-after Terrestrial Paradise when, on his third voyage to the Americas, he spotted the confluence of four great rivers along the coast of Venezuela. Modern times have made their own contributions to Hyperborean legends: consider the image of Shangri-La portrayed in James Hilton’s book Lost Horizon (1933), the quest for the Holy Grail in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), the pursuit of the Fountain of Youth in the movies Cocoon (1985) and Cocoon: The Return (1988), and the recurring stories of extreme longevity among people living in the Caucasus Mountains of Soviet Georgia.
The Fountain Legends
The most familiar of all the myths and legends about longevity are those based on foods, waters, and other substances believed to possess special powers to combat disease, aging, and death. The Hyperborean and Antediluvian legends often involve the use of one or more of these substances. Ponce de León is the best known of those who have searched for the Fountain of Youth. This Spanish explorer, who traveled with Columbus on his second voyage to America, established a colony in 1508 in the West Indies on the island now known as Puerto Rico. The local Indians told the Spanish explorers about an island called Bimini where there was believed to be a spring that restored youth to all who bathed in it or drank its magical waters. While searching for Bimini in 1513, Ponce de León accidentally discovered what is now Florida and the Bahamas. Legend has it that the fifty-five-year-old explorer was searching for the Fountain of Youth because he was no longer able to satisfy his young wife. It is also possible that he fell prey to an ingenious ploy by the local Indians to get rid of the unwanted Spanish explorers. Europeans took Ponce de León’s exploits seriously, particularly after a high-level official testified to the existence of the Fountain and reported that the father of one of his servants had been revived by the spring waters.
Although the Fountain of Youth legend has become synonymous with Ponce de León, its origins can be traced back to at least 700 B.C. There is an old Hindu legend about an elderly priest named Cyavanna who married the daughter of the Hindu king as part of an agreement to end a conflict. Subsequently, two demigods known as Asvins had become enamored with the king’s daughter and tried unsuccessfully to seduce her. Cyavanna, who was aware of their efforts, offered to reveal religious secrets to the Asvins in exchange for rejuvenation. Accepting the bargain, the Asvins took Cyavanna to a Pool of Youth, where upon bathing, the three emerged to discover happily that they were youthful once again.
A Fountain legend also appears in the Old Testament, where there is a description of a River of Immortality that confers eternal life. Although specific references to a Fountain of Life or a river flowing out of Eden appear infrequently in the Bible, the concept of eternal life associated with these symbols is an integral part of Christian faith.
One of the more elaborate Fountain legends involves the quest by Alexander the Great to find the Fountain of Youth. According to this legend, a dried fish suddenly came back to life when it was being cleaned in a spring by one of Alexander’s personal cooks. The cook promptly bathed himself in the water and became immortal. When the cook refused to reveal the location of the spring, Alexander tried to kill him. Discovering that an immortal could not be killed, Alexander threw him into the sea, where the cook continued to live in demonic form. In the Arabic version of this story, an angel tells Alexander about a well containing the Water of Life. Instead of a cook, it is a general and adviser to Alexander known as el Khidr who is transformed into an immortal after having accidentally discovered the well. A third version of the legend appeared in a twelfth-century poem. While on expedition near India, Alexander comes upon four aged men who tell him of three fountains: one restores the dead to life; the second bestows immortality; and the third has the power of rejuvenation. Upon finding the Fountain of Immortality, they discover that it can be used only once a year and someone has already beaten them to it. Alexander and the four aged men eventually locate the Fountain of Rejuvenation. After bathing in it, they happily discover that they have all returned to the youthful condition they had when thirty years old.
LEGENDARY QUESTS FOR IMMORTALITY and perpetual youth appear to spring from a near-universal fear of the aging process and its consequences. This fear of death and the unknown that follows it begins in early childhood and remains a concern right up to the moment of death. From the Greek story of Prometheus to the Holy Grail pursued in the Indiana Jones movie, the Antediluvian, Hyperborean, and Fountain legends about aging have played a prominent role in virtually every human society. Such myths and legends have been passed down through the ages and persist in our thinking today. However, as scientists begin to unlock the secrets of aging, an even more fascinating story begins to unfold.
CHAPTER 2
[image: Image]
Sex and Death
The difference between sex and death is that
with death you can do it alone
and no one is going to make fun of you.
WOODY ALLEN
A FEW YEARS AGO, my wife and I were reading in bed late one night. I was enjoying the feeling of accomplishment that comes from sending off a completed manuscript to a scientific journal—the culmination of three years of research. Just before turning off the bedside lamp, Sara turned to me and asked about the manuscript. She has much more than a passing interest in our work—Sara and all of her friends are preoccupied with their own aging and how time has changed their bodies and minds, as well as those of their husbands. “Could you explain your latest research briefly, in a single sentence?” she asked. Although the full story is complicated, our work had established a link between when reproduction and death occur. “I can’t explain this entire concept in a single sentence,” I said. “Try anyway,” she insisted. I paused for a moment, then blurted out, “The price we pay for sex is death.” Without a moment’s hesitation, she smiled at me and said, “Okay, then, no more sex.”
Her answer caught me off guard. “Wait a minute,” I said. “Let me tell you the full story of how sex, death, and immortality are related to each other.”
GENES, ORGANIC TIME TRAVELERS
The bodies of all creatures that reproduce sexually contain only two kinds of cells—somatic cells (the body you see reflected in the mirror) and germ cells (the eggs carried by females and the sperm carried by males). Germ cells contain a single copy of the master recipe for life—deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Somatic cells contain two copies of DNA, one from each parent. The first somatic cell of each new life forms when a sperm fertilizes an egg; at that moment, the engine of life switches on. In the process of creating a new life, the parent’s DNA are shuffled like a deck of cards. The result is that the instructions for building and operating a human body, encoded within the DNA of our ancestors and passed through every subsequent generation, comes to us. We, in turn, reshuffle the genetic deck, and pass the DNA on to our children.
The diversity of life that so intrigues and entertains us is perpetuated every time a new somatic cell is formed. The DNA then guides the first somatic cell to produce more somatic cells; cells that ultimately form the tissues, organs, and bodies of living things like trees, beetles, birds, and humans. Human bodies, which can be referred to as somas, function like genetic transport vehicles. Genes have been hitching a ride in these vehicles through the ages. Neither can survive without the other. Human beings and other living things are directed to grow, develop, and reproduce so that the genes hitching a ride within us can move on to the next generation.
It follows that it is genes which are immortal, not the bodies that carry them. Genes, the ultimate time travelers, transcend the bounds of time that measures the limits imposed on our mortal bodies. As Richard Dawkins wrote in River Out of Eden: “A river of DNA . . . flows through time, not space. It is a river of information, not a river of bones and tissues: a river of abstract instructions for building bodies, not a river of solid bodies themselves. The information passes through bodies and affects them, but it is not affected by them on its way through.”
IMMORTAL GENES, MORTAL BODIES
Scientists involved in the Human Genome Project have embarked on a quest to create a code book for the 35,000 active genes that make up human DNA. Imagine for a moment that you could read this genetic code book. You would find it to be an ancient scripture, written some 130,000 years ago. Most passages have remained unchanged from the original text. But like an evolving manuscript, some words and phrases would be crossed out and revised. Other than a few editorial changes here and there, the basic story in the human genetic code book has remained unchanged through time.
Now imagine a